Life of a semi feral equestrian attempting to learn dressage with her Arabians. Humor, science, and doing things in a roundabout way.

Saturday, March 29, 2014

Variety is the Spice of Life

Or so they say.

I am not so certain I always want variety. I do prefer certain things to be the same, such as having a parking spot in the same place each time I look for it.

But the past few days were good for the girls, I think.

The filly had ride #3. Since starting her ulcer treatment, she seems much more forward. She does still have a tendency to get "sticky" in the corners where the exit points are.

I decided to go ahead and put down a ground pole in one corner and she seemed much happier to go and walk/trot over it instead of stopping, so perhaps, having more for her to look at/do is the key to keeping her engaged.

Can't say I blame her. The arena can be a bit of a dull place without different things to do, but with a young horse, it's always back to basics. It seems difficult at times to keep a young horse's mind busy wanting to learn and do more when there is only so many skills they already have. I don't want to introduce too many things at once in terms either.

As for the mare, she was a good sport. Friday, we had an excellent ride. She seemed happy to work and was very easy to bend and ride, even with additional traffic in the arena.

Today, I met up with a friend again and we decided to go outside once more.

And she was very good indeed. I went ahead and decided that the mare can multi-task even outside. Poor girl. How can she possibly keep track of her feet, be soft in the bridle, and trot at the same time?

Her only real spooky point today was an old, forgotten hay bale left on the field. For whatever reason, that got the oogly eyes. Good grief horse. It was previously known as food.

Then again, when I was back inside, I went ahead and trimmed the obnoxious mohawk and cleaned up part of her hairy heels. The SFM is perfect for clipping. However, when I set the clippers back down on top of the box, then she puffed up and was snorting and blowing at it while tied.

Oh dear horse.

So apparently while some variety is right up the semi feral's alley, familiar objects should never be in unfamiliar settings. -Semi Feral Truth number #10470.